Kasaragod: Hours after CPM politburo member A Vijayaragavan inaugurated the party's Kasaragod District Conference by "trivialising" the Opposition's concerns over frequent man-animal conflict, a leopard was found trapped inside a laterite spring cavity in Bedadka grama panchayat, a bastion of the CPM.

After nine hours of commotion by the people and officials to capture it, the wild cat freed itself from the snare, leapt out, breached the safety net and disappeared into the darkness around 3.30 am on Thursday, February 6.

Since January 10, leopards have been raiding Bedadka grama panchayat's Kolathur village, picking up pet dogs from areas such as Birikulam, Ramanadukka, and Bavikkadukkam. On Wednesday, a leopard was almost captured at Madanthakode.

Around 6.30 pm on Wednesday, Anupama Mador, an employee at Kasaragod General Hospital, was walking home after turning off the sprinklers on her farm when she heard the anguished cry of a wild animal from a spring cavity in the laterite terrain.

She rushed home and alerted her elderly father, Krishna Nair. He checked the hole and confirmed it was a leopard caught in a snare trap meant for porcupines. Nair closed the cavity with stones and alerted the panchayat members and forest officials.

People and people's representatives rushed to his farm at Madanthakode in Kolathur. "There is no forest land in our panchayat but people have lost their peace of mind because of leopard attacks," said Dhanya M, president of Bedadka grama panchayat, where all 17 wards are with the LDF. "Rubber tappers and other workers were not able to go to work in the early morning," he said.

On January 23, a leopard snatched a pet dog on a leash from the house of Vijesh at Bavikkadukkam. The next day, three pups were killed and an adult dog was lifted from a house at Ramanadukka. "Leopards took the dogs from the houses of Sreedharan and Babu at Ramanadukka. That's when we realised there was more than one leopard," said Priya K, a panchayat member from the ward where the leopards were having a field day.

On January 24, the Forest Department installed cameras in the area. None captured the elusive leopards.
At Anupama's house, tension mounted as Kasaragod's forest officials said that the Rapid Response Team (RRT), trained to capture wild cats, had to arrive from Wayanad, and veterinary surgeon Illyas Rawther, responsible for administering the tranquiliser, had to come from Kannur. "We've been reporting leopard attacks for two months, and now you're saying there's no team in Kasaragod to capture one?" an irate resident was heard shouting at the officials.

Panchayat president Dhanya, who was at the spot, stepped in to calm him. Another resident asked Forest officials what they were going to do about the other leopards in the panchayat. The officials said they would set up cages in the troubled areas.

Meanwhile, forest officials secured a safety net in front of the cavity to prevent the leopard's escape.
Dr Rawther arrived early, but the team from Wayanad reached only around 2.30 am. The forest department prioritised public safety and decided to tranquillise the leopard before daybreak as the crowd was expected to swell by morning.

Around 3.30 am, Dr Rawther prepared the dart and took a shot at the leopard from the mouth of the cavity. "The leopard turned aggressive, leapt out and went past the safety net," said Kasaragod Forest Range Officer Vinod Kumar C V.

Forest officials searched a one-square-kilometre area, hoping to find a tranquilised leopard, but found nothing. "The dart did not hit the animal. Otherwise, we would have found it," he said.

Leopards have been spotted in the neighbouring Muliyar, Karadka and Delampady grama panchayats since last August, prompting the department to set up cameras. On February 1, a leopard was found dead in a well in Delampady Grama panchayat. However, despite the cameras, no leopards have been caught on the footage — though several families have lost their pet dogs to the big cats.

Range officer Vinod Kumar said Bedadka panchayat does not have forestland but it is separated from Muliyar panchayat by the Erinjipuzha river, and forests lie just 3 km from Kolathur village.

But residents are furious that Forest officials could not capture a leopard that was caught in a snare trap. The incident also left CPM Politburo member Vijayaraghavan looking rather foolish.

'Leopard in Delhi, the elephant in Mysuru town'
Inaugurating the CPM's Kasaragod District Conference in Kanhangad on Wednesday, Vijayaragavan said communal forces and the Congress are scared of another victory for the LDF in the state and that was why Congress state president K Sudhakaran blamed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan even if elephants came out of the forest. In Mysuru, wild elephants roam the city, he said. In Delhi, Vijayaraghavan said, he saw a newspaper report about a leopard sleeping on a bed in an AC room in Faridabad. He was referring to a February 2024 incident when a leopard was spotted napping on the perimeter wall of a colony in Sector 42. "Where? In Delhi. If it were here, what would the narrative be? They would say Pinarayi Vijayan let loose a leopard in the house in the morning," he said.

The CPM leader alleged that the issues raised by the United Democratic Front's Malayoram Samara Pracharna Yatra (Highland Protest Campaign March) were not about the forest or wild animals but it was a campaign against Pinarayi Vijayan.

Delegates criticise Vijayaraghavan
However, when the closed-door meeting started, the delegates severely criticised the politburo member for "trivialising" the man-animal conflict, according to a report by Malayala Manorama. The delegates called for sustainable solutions to the problem in the presence of Vijayaragavan, the report said.